1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video camera apparatus and, more particularly, to a video camera apparatus suitable for use in a video camera having a grip portion and a viewfinder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, with respect to a video camera apparatus and a camera-integrating recorder (camcorder) in which a video camera and a video recorder are incorporated integrally, various types in which a camera unit, a lens, a recorder unit, a grip portion, a viewfinder unit, etc. are all accommodated in one casing have been proposed and made into products. This type of video camera and camera-integrating recorder are not suitable for shooting with a low of high angle.
To cope with this problem, there is a type in which another lens for the low angle and still another for the high angle are provided in an eyepiece section, and there is another type in which the viewfinder is made separate from a camera body and is made rotatable with respect to the camera body. However, even if the viewfinder is made adaptable for both the low and high angles, since the grip itself is secured to the camera body, difficulties are encountered in shooting at the low or high angle with the grip held. In addition, although the posture of the viewfinder must be changed with a change in the posture of the operator, it has been difficult to smoothly effect this follow-up.
To solve such problems, a proposal has been made to make the grip portion or the viewfinder unit movable with respect to the camera body so as to improve the operating efficiency.
FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) illustrate an example of this type. FIG. 1(a) is a side-elevational view illustrating a video camera in which a camera grip 3 is secured to a camera body 7. The arrangement is such that a viewfinder 1 us installed rotatably in the direction of the arrow a, thereby making it possible to adjust the inclination of the viewfinder 1 with respect to the camera body 7.
FIG. 1(b) is a side-elevational view illustrating a video camera in which the camera grip 3 is installed on the camera body 7 such as to be rotatable in the direction of the arrow b, thereby making it possible to adjust the inclination of the camera grip 3 with respect to the camera body 7.
However, in the prior art shown in FIG. 1(a), although it is easy to confirm the image in the viewfinder during shooting with a low angle by rotating the viewfinder, since the camera grip is secured, it is difficult to hold the camera grip in a normal state. Hence, it is sometime necessary to hold the camera with the other hand or to provide a recording trigger switch for the low angle, and the risk of dropping the camera is large. In addition, there is a drawback in that, during shooting with a high angle, no measure is adopted with respect to the direction of an angle of elevation, so that it is difficult to confirm the image in the viewfinder.
Furthermore, in the prior art shown in FIG. 1(b), an attempt is made to obtain the best posture during shooting with a normal angle, and this arrangement is not adaptable to various shooting angles. Hence, there has been a problem in that there are not many variations of shooting.
In addition, as another prior art of this type of apparatus, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,147, there is a video camera in which the grip portion and the viewfinder unit are integrally arranged, and the grip is made rotatable between a normal shooting position and an accommodating position when the apparatus is not being used, thereby facilitating the accommodation. However, this arrangement failed to take into consideration various camera angles in a shooting state, and the grip is merely made into a movable type.
Meanwhile, if the casing having the viewfinder is made rotatable with respect to the camera body, if the so-called optical viewfinder is used, the arrangement of an optical system becomes complicated, so that it is undesirable. Therefore, an electronic viewfinder (EVF) which uses a small CRT display or the like as a viewfinder is frequently used. The EVF is also advantageous in that information necessary for shooting can be superimposed on an image being shot.
However, if the EVF is used as the viewfinder, the following problems are presented. In other words, a circuit for driving the EVF is necessary, and there is a possibility that a high frequency of a signal generated by this driving circuit exerts an adverse effect on a video signal of the camera. Particularly when a small CRT is used as the EVF, the deflecting voltage becomes a substantially high voltage, so that this effect becomes large.
When shooting information, including a focused state, an exposed state, and various items of alarm information, is generated by a character generator, is superimposed on the image being shot, and is displayed on the EVF, there is the risk that a signal in this character generator exerts an adverse effect on the photographic signal.
As information on the prior art concerning a camera and a grip or a viewfinder, U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,290 is available.
Also, it will be helpful in clarifying the inventiveness of the present invention to refer to the following information on the prior art concerning video cameras: U.S. Pat Nos. 2,315,406, 2,547,030, 2,709,391, 3,659,045, 4,318,133, and 4,368,490, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 52-52520, and "Compact TV Camera FAE 123 with Electronic viewfinder", by W. Knorr, Grundig Tchnische Information, Mar. 1977, pp. 139-151, as well as "TK-760 Camera A Design Evolution", by Bazin, RCA Broadcast News (USA), No. 165 w, (June 1978), pp. 38-42, and the like.